Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1887-07-30

Napoleon in an address of seven minutes
thrilled his army, and thrilled Europe.
Cl,rist's sermon on the mount, tho model ser
mon, was less than eighteen minutes long az
ordinary mode Of delivery. 1t is not electricity
scattered oil over tho sky that strikes, but
electricity gathered into thunderbolt and
hurled, and it is not religious truth scattered
over, spread out over vast reach of time,
but religious truth projected i'll compact
form that flushes light upon the soul and
rives its indifference.
When the religious discourse OF tho future
DRIVES In this land and in the Christian
church. the discourse which is to arouse the
world and startle tue nations, and usher IN
tho kingdom, it will DO q brief discourse.
Hcar it, all theological students, all ye just
entering upon religious work; all 20 mon aud
women who in Sabbath schools and other de-
partments are toiling for Christ and the sal
walton Of imnortals. Brevityl Brevit !!
But remarked also, that tho religious dis
eou,s. Of tho future Of which speak will DO
n ,,oprlar discourse There arp those In these
titnes who speak Of o popular sermon as
though tbero must be something wrong about
A. As these critics AFRO dull themselves, the
world gets tho impression that sermon is
rood in proportion as it is stupid. Christ was
the most popular preacher tho world over
saw. and considering tho small humber OF the
worlds population had the largest audiences
ever gathered He never preached anywhere
without making O great sensation People
rr,sbed out in the wilderness to hear him,
reckless of their physical necessities. So
great was their anxiety to hear Christ that,
taking no food with them, they would have
faiutsl and starved had not Christ performed
miracle and fed them.
Why did SO many people take the truth at
Christ,s hanjsi Because they all understood
II uo illustrated his subject by hen and
her chickens by bushel measure by hand
ful OF salt, by birds fight and by IL lily's
aroma. Ali the people know what no meant
and they f,ocked to him And when the re-
ligious discourse Of the future appears, 1t
will not be Princetonian, not Rochesterian,
not Andoverian, not Mlddletonian, but
Olivotic-plain, practical, unique, earnest,
comprehensive of all the woes, wants, sins,
sorrows aud necessities Of an auditory.
But when that exhortation or discourse
does comu there will be 1000 cleaning scim-
etars to charge on it. There are i'll SO many
theological seminnries professors telling
Young men how to preach, themselves not
knowing how, and ain told that II young
man in some of our theological sominaries
saws anything quaint, or thrilling, or unique,
faculty und students fly ut him and set him
right. md straighten him out, and smooth
him down, and chop him off, until he says
everything Just us every body else says it.
Oh. whom the future religious discourse of
tba Christian church arrives, all the churches
of Christ in our great cities will be thronged.
The world wants spiritual help. All who
have buried their dead want comfort. All
know themselves to be mortal and to be i'm
mortal. and they want to hear about the great
future tell you, my friends, If the people
of our great cities who have had trouble only
Thought they could get practical and sympa-
thetic help In the Christian church, there
would not be q street in New York, or Brook
lyn. or Chicago, OF Charleston, or Philadel-
phia, or Boston, which would be passable OIL
the Sabbath day IL there were church OH it;
for all the people would press to that asy-
lum Of mercy, that great house OF comfort
and consolation
A mother with dead babe III hor arms
came to the god Veda and asked to have her
child restored to life. The god Veda said to
her: "You 60 and get handful OF mustard
seed from house in which there has been no
sorrow, and in which there has been no death,
and / will restore your child to life" So the
mother went out, and she went from house TO
house, und from home to home, looking for q
place where there lad been no sorrow and
where there had been no death, but she found
none. She went back to the god Veaa and
suid: any mission is failure; you see l
haven't brought the mustard seed; l cunt
find place where there hos been no sorrow
and no death" "Oh," says the god Vcda,
1understand your sorrows are no worse than
the sorrows of others; we all have our griefs,
and all have our heart breaks"
Laugh, and tho world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone;
For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,
But has trouble enough Of its own.
We hear great deal Of discussion now oil
over tho land about why people do not go to
church. Some say 1t is because Christianity
is dying out and because people do not be-
lieve i'm the truth of Gods word and all that.
They are false reasons. The reason is because
our sermons and exhortations are not inter-
esting, and practical, and helpful Some one
might as well tell the whole truth on this
subject, and so will tellit The religious dis
course of tho future, tho gospel sermon TO
come forth and shake the nations and lift
people out of dark ess, will be popular SER
mon, just for the simple reason that it will
meet the woes and the wants and the ankle
ties of the people
There are in all our denominations ecclesi-
astical mumtnies, sitting around to frown
upon the fresh young pulpits OF America, to
try to awe them down, to cry out: "Tutl tut!
TUT Sensationall" They stand today preach
ing in churches that hold 1000 people, and
there are 100 persons present, and if they can
not have the world saved in their way it
seems as il thoy do not want it saved at all.
LIDO not know but tue old way of making
ministers of the Gospel is better-a collegiate
education and all apprenticeship under the
care and home attention Of some earnest, aged
Christian minister, the young man getting
the patriarch's spirit and assisting him i'll his
religious service Young lawyers study with
old lawyers, young physicians with old physi-
claus, and believe it would be great help
II every young man studying for the Gospel
ministry could put himself in the home and
heart and sympathy and under the benedits
ton and perpetual presence Of Christian
minister.
But I remark again, the religious dis
course of the future will be an awakening
sermon From altar rail to the front door
step under that sermon an audience will get
up and start for heaven. There will be in it
many staccato passage. 1t will not be
lullaby; it will be battle charge. Men will
drop their sins, for they will feel the hot
breath of pursuing retribution on the back
of their necks. 1t will be sympathetic with
all the physical distresses as we'll as the spir-
itual distresses of the world. Christ not
only preached, but he healed paralysis, and
he healed epilepsy, and he healed the dumb
and the blind and ten lepers. III
That religious discourse of the future will
be an everyday sermon, going right down into
every mans life, and it viii teach him how to
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